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'Third generation SE' means the 2022 model. You misspoke then.

Apple wants to keep it cheap. Meaning the 2022 SE will look identical to the current SE.

By the fall of 2023, Apple can offer an iPhone Mini model at a reduced price. Most likely starting at $499. That will be the cheapest iPhone they will offer by that point in their lineup. SE will be gone by then.

I seriously doubt you will see an iPhone with thick bezels in their fall 2023 lineup. That's 2.5 years from now.

I frankly don't see the Mini becoming the "cheap" phone.

I find it far more likely that we will see a consolidation of the lineup in 2023.

Regular, Pro, Pro Max (and Mini depending on future sales)

The current SE will go, as will the multiple 6ish" offerings, currently the XR and the 11. They will replace them with a single lower cost SE based on the 11 or the 12.
 
Big fan of bezels and the home button. Hope the new SE just has upgraded internals.
 
I frankly don't see the Mini becoming the "cheap" phone.

I find it far more likely that we will see a consolidation of the lineup in 2023.

Regular, Pro, Pro Max (and Mini depending on future sales)

The current SE will go, as will the multiple 6ish" offerings, currently the XR and the 11. They will replace them with a single lower cost SE based on the 11 or the 12.
I disagree. The SE is killing the Mini's current sales. Once it's gone, it makes sense to make the smallest iPhone the cheapest. People equate size with price. By the fall of 2023 we should see two new folding iPhone models. (Clamshell and tablet.) The rest of the lineup needs to be more simple and offer a wide range of price offerings. At that point you establish the 5.4"/6.1"/6.7" lineup in addition to the folding models. That's 5 iPhones. With the Mini being the cheapest at that point.
 
I don’t see the point in refreshing the 2020 SE with the same design. The 2020 SE is already sporting an A13 chip. Refreshing it without any design change would not be worth it IMO.

Possible, but remember, the first generation SE also received an update - more storage capacity in that case - after it‘s first year on the market. This latest rumor talks about adding 5G to the second generation SE rather than storage capacity, but it’s the same idea: give the phone a spec bump a to keep it relevant.

I’m still banking on the 2022 SE having the XR body with A15, TouchID on power button, and punch hole LCD.

I think that phone will come, but it feels like the current model still has more life left. The SE 2020 came four years after the original SE. That doesn’t mean we have to wait four years for the next form factor necessarily, but it’s not clear they’d cut it in half either.
 
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Looks like those waiting for a large screen 401 ppi LCD iPhone will die of old age first

I'm in the "I've been waiting years for 401ppi" club. Only another 401 years to go by the looks of it. Meditating on a tiny rock in the ocean in lotus position with my beloved 326ppi 6S.....waiting....ageing....regretting I didn't go for the plus.
 
Kuo already said high-end 2022 iPhones will use hole punch. So the design language isn't just for SE.

But then we’re back to the original issue—where are the Face ID components gonna go?
 
I find it hard to believe that Apple will design a separate form-factor specifically for the new SE, whenever it will come. We've now seen two generations of SE that reused the frankly obsolete designs (probably even more true for the 2020 SE than the 2016). No reason to expect the third gen will be any different.

My money is on the XR/11 design. The notch might go in favor of the hole punch in order to save even more money by excluding Face ID. Otherwise same exact design - 6,1 LCD with thick bezels all around, same dual camera with some improvements courtesy of the latest SOC. Likely to come in spring of 2022-2023.
 
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EDIT: This is an SE article so the point I make below is irrelevant. It IS an upgrade to a single camera experience that doesn’t currently include Face ID. It’s a single camera lens for single camera lens trade.

ORIGINAL POST:
Who are these users clamoring for a “fix” to the notch? I use my phone for hours each day and rarely even notice the thing.

The yearly expectation for it to disappear seems to ignore its purpose in the first place. The “hole punch” design, if left to a singular hole, would not accommodate the current Face ID sensors unless they somehow reduce them and the camera to a single lens shaped unit.

That’s not to say that there aren’t merits to making the notch disappear... I just don’t see why moving to “just as ugly only different...and possibly inferior” is supposed to be an upgrade.
 
I disagree. The SE is killing the Mini's current sales. Once it's gone, it makes sense to make the smallest iPhone the cheapest. People equate size with price. By the fall of 2023 we should see two new folding iPhone models. (Clamshell and tablet.) The rest of the lineup needs to be more simple and offer a wide range of price offerings. At that point you establish the 5.4"/6.1"/6.7" lineup in addition to the folding models. That's 5 iPhones. With the Mini being the cheapest at that point.

That the SE is killing the Mini sales is a popular theory but I'm not entirely sure it's true. Some small phone enthusiasts will have gone with the SE over the Mini of course, but plenty will have done so for the price. If the SE didn't exist, they'd have bought the XR or the 11.

I sincerely hope that the Mini will become the SE, btw, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bigger phone to have broader appeal. As today, Apple will differentiate through specs rather than size as there's currently four phones with roughly the same size in Apple's lineup.
 
Anything that get's rid of the notch, I'm for it.
When the notch was introduced with iPhone X, I emailed Apple on a method to minimize and/or eliminate it. Update: no response yet. My solution keeps the same security intact, makes iPhone UI/UX usable and elegant and keeps the device looking better than what it is presently.
 
The hole punch screen is so you can put your phone on your keychain and not worry about losing your phone.
iPod touch had the rear case push button wrist strap thing that was brilliant tbh. Too bad the iPhone does not bring that idea back through a different implementation.
 
"hole punch"
That's what many of us would've loved to do to Courtney Love, but Dave Grohl beat us to it.
 
Not buying this news. The SE has been the last of the old design for the first two models. A hole punch is a new design and a departure from Apple's whole Face ID effort over more than four years.

Also, it has not been long since the 2020 SE. Look at the four-year gap between the first two SEs. Apple needs to preserve the investment in the 2020 SE for longer than one year.

Look for the next SE to be like an iPhone 11 or 12 non-Pro 6.1".
 
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Because Apple opted to go with a much more secure FaceID system which can't be packed in to a small hole.
I thought TOF And face id were same in security terms.
So 2023 punch hole iphone wouldnt adopt TOF? Would face id go into the thin frame??
 
That the SE is killing the Mini sales is a popular theory but I'm not entirely sure it's true. Some small phone enthusiasts will have gone with the SE over the Mini of course, but plenty will have done so for the price. If the SE didn't exist, they'd have bought the XR or the 11.

I sincerely hope that the Mini will become the SE, btw, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bigger phone to have broader appeal. As today, Apple will differentiate through specs rather than size as there's currently four phones with roughly the same size in Apple's lineup.
I'm confident the SE hurt the Mini sales. Price is king and the SE isn't that much bigger than the Mini. At almost half the price too.

No I disagree on your last point. There is a market for an iPhone Mini. The size needs to match the price though. So by fall of 2023 there should be no SE in the lineup and at that point we get the Mini at say $499 to start. We should have folding iPhones in the lineup at that point two (two folding models). So it makes sense to keep the 5.4"/6.1"/6.7" model sizes, plus the folding sizes, and nothing more. That's 5 iPhone models.
 
If Apple keeps the same pricing scheme for the SE as for previous releases, then there's absolutely no way the SE 3rd gen will resemble anything but some sort of iPhone X, XS or 11 or 11 Pro.

There's no way the SE will get its own design or in any way resemble any models of the flagship 2021 or 2022 iPhones. This would only change if the SE doesn't remain in the $399-$499 price range which is highly unlikely.

When the 13 launches this year, the 11 or 2nd gen SE will get pushed out of the lineup (probably both, most likely just the 11) and the 12 will remain but get lowered to around $599-$699. The 12 Pros are also most likely getting pushed out of the lineup to highlight the difference between the 12 and the 13 and 13 Pro.

If Apple were to make the SE have unique features and a unique design they would canibalize sales of the flagship models.

Apple might give the SE models some new features but they quite evidently want you to still feel that you're getting something that's one or two generations behind in some aspects, which is why the 2nd gen SE didn't get Face ID or even just edge-to-edge display and over all resembles an iPhone 8 in most ways.

THere's also no way Apple would give a future SE model under-the-display Touch ID unless 13 or 14 have that too or something even better, like a combo of Touch ID under-display and Face ID:

The second you give the cheaper iPhone unique features or just a unique design that the flagship doesn't have then you lure too many customers to buy the cheaper phone instead of the flagship.

These speculations are as always completely far-fetched click-bait than anyone could come up with.

The hole punch idea is far fetched as it implies new design work to take it into production. What would be the point of retaining a 4.7" display if you might then have to change the casing and other parts?

Also, as of September this year the official lineup will drop the A12 powered Xr meaning the SE and 11 will cover the 'low end' of the iPhone line up with one or two 12 variants covering the mid range and leaving an iPhone 13 range powered by A15 at the current high end.

As it is, the current 'conveyor' of older iPhones will see the Xr in theory disappear from the official lineup with the 11 dropping into the current $499 slot in September. The 12mini, if not eliminated, would drop down into the $599 slot.

The current A13 powered SE which starts at $399 will stay until, say, March 2022 according to the story when a replacement 4.7" model (using the same body shell) will come in. Keeping the same phone at the same price point for more than 2 years will be a problem which is why the original SE had a storage bump to keep it going for 2 more years.

If Apple wished to update the 2020 SE in (say, March) 2022 they have the following easier options:

1. Double the storage like they did with the 2016 SE (unlikely since it already starts at 64Gb)

2. Entry level price cut - unlikely because Apple don't do that unless they discontinue it and let third party retail handle the price cuts - the SE2020 could have a long life as a budget model at third party retailers, but what fills the SE price point?

3. Bring the 8 Plus body shell out of cold storage and let that be the SE Plus and have it use the A14 SoC - the 2020 model would be discounted by third party retailers creating an unofficial entry level model (see 2).

4. Keep the Xr, discontinue the SE2020, but cut the price of the Xr to $399 - they would have to do this in September 2021 though. This leaves an A12 CPU in the range but if Apple reduce the 12mini to $599 in September as expected they may capture the people wanting a smaller phone over a cheaper phone. The downside is that TouchID would leave the low end - perhaps not the greatest idea for the next 2-3 years in the current world state of affairs.

The big upside is it'll capture many budget buyers who would flock to the Xr for the screen size.

While under screen TouchID may not be a structural change, there's simply no room for exotic ideas like a hole punch camera unless this is a developmental idea for a 13 Mini - for example.
 
Am I the only one who hates the hole punch phones? On many of them it's not even symmetrical and off to the side.

The notch may take away screen area, but at least it has symmetry with an attractive shape. A single round hole in the corner just looks like your five year old got carried away with a hole puncher.
Yeah I've never liked hole punch cameras either, notches look way nicer. Most people disagree with me though
 
Possible, but remember, the first generation SE also received an update - more storage capacity in that case - after it‘s first year on the market. This latest rumor talks about adding 5G to the second generation SE rather than storage capacity, but it’s the same idea: give the phone a spec bump a to keep it relevant.

I think that phone will come, but it feels like the current model still has more life left. The SE 2020 came four years after the original SE. That doesn’t mean we have to wait four years for the next form factor necessarily, but it’s not clear they’d cut it in half either.
Good point with the 5g but I would suspect that adding 5g will require the current A14 SoC at the very least.

If they are planning a 2022 appearance for a new SE - to mark 2 years on release - that makes me think they'll use an A15 (iPhone 13) SoC in an 8 Plus body shell and one reasoning behind the upsize which I hadn't considered was the need for a bigger battery to offset the 5g modem power consumption.

$399 for what I would then call an SE Plus (5.5") would then offer a boost at the low end for Apple who could then sell the 2020 SE for a couple more years at third party retailers.

Above that would be (as of September 2021):
$499 iPhone 11 - bigger screen, A13 SoC (but no 5g); 64, 128Gb SKUs
$599 iPhone 12mini - A14 SoC; 64Gb, 128, 256Gb SKUs
$699 iPhone 12 (or iPhone 13 mini) - 64Gb, 128, 256Gb SKUs
$799 iPhone 13 - A15 SoC
$999 iPhone 13Pro - A15 SoC
 
Good point with the 5g but I would suspect that adding 5g will require the current A14 SoC at the very least.

Very possible. The rumor also suggested the processor will get an upgrade. Not sure this will require a "Plus" model, but we'll see. Either way, we are talking about retaining a legacy "Home Button" design for now while saving the XR-based form factor for a future iteration.
 
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